Paa Joe Explained

Paa Joe
Birth Name:Joseph Tetteh-Ashong
Birth Place:Akwapim, Ghana
Occupation:Sculptor, carpenter

Paa Joe (né Joseph Tetteh-Ashong; born 1947) is a Ghanaian sculptor, and figurative palanquin and fantasy coffin carpenter. Joe is considered one of the most important Ghanaian coffin or abebuu adekai (“proverb boxes”) artists of his generation.[1] [2] [3] He has been involved in the international art world since 1989, and has been included in major exhibitions in Europe, Japan, and the USA. His fantasy coffins are in the collections and on permanent display in many art museums worldwide, including the British Museum in London, the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka and many others as well as the private collections of foreign dignitaries.[4] [5] [6] Joe is building an art academy and gallery to support the community and art students across the globe.

Biography

Paa Joe was born in 1947 at Akwapim in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Joe began his career with a twelve-year apprenticeship as a coffin artist in the workshop of Kane Kwei (1924–1992) in Teshie.[7] In 1976, Joe started his own business in Nungua. He trained many young artists like Daniel Mensah, Eric Kpakpo, or Kudjoe Affutu who have also become very successful fantasy coffin artists. In 2008, Joe moved his workshop from Nungua to kPobiman (Greater Accra) where he works with his son Jacob and several other collaborators. In 2013, Joe was invited for a six-week residency to Nottingham, Great Britain and he has taken part in many art residences.

Artwork

Fantasy coffins

While the pieces crafted by Joe are real coffins that the deceased are buried in, the process to obtain a figurative coffin is very different from the normal process one might go about to obtain a coffin for themselves or a loved one.[8] Joe does not have a catalog of work from which a figurative coffin can be chosen, as might be done with a regular coffin. Each piece is a custom commission that has relevance to the deceased's life. Thus, Joe is not a craftsman of utilitarian products, rather he is an artist of custom, expressive pieces. Not all of Joe's coffins are used for burial or intended to express the quality of an individual life.

Figurative coffins have great cultural significance in Ghana.[9] While the practice of making Figurative coffins was debatably started by Joe's instructor, Kane Kwei, the concept has deep roots in Ga tradition.[10] Figurative coffins have been around since the 1950s. However, figurative palanquins have a much deeper history in Ghana.

Joe has crafted custom coffins for important Ghanaian cultural figures, such as the late Chief Nii Amartey Kwei II.

Workshop and process

Joe crafts his coffins in his workshop In the Accra area in Ghana.[11] His workshop comprises a few main areas including an office, a showroom, a preparation room for painting and shipping, and a tool storage area. However, much of the actual Coffin Construction is performed behind the workshop under the shade of trees. Here, clients can come and view coffins and decide on a design either for themselves for future use, or for a loved one. Joe's process is to explore the interests of the person in need of a coffin to determine what style of figurate coffin could best represent their life. Past examples have been as simple as a coke bottle or a bible to that of a professor who requested a bird with a pen in its mouth.

Other work

While Joe is best known for his figurative coffins, he has also created conceptual works that focus on West Africa and transatlantic slave trade, such as his large-scale sculptural work "Gates of No Return".

Joe is the subject of a documentary about fantasy coffins by British filmmaker Ben Wigley and producer Anna Griffin.[12]

Exhibitions

In 2020, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia exhibited new work by Joe of Gold Coast fortresses. The exhibit featured seven buildings that served as the way stations for Africans who were sold into slavery, put on ships, and sent to the Americas and the Caribbean in the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. The works are large, painted wood architectural sculptures and include the Cape Coast Castle, Fort Orange, Christiansborg Castle, Fort Patience, and Fort St. Sebastian. The process of making the works included visits to the sites, taking pictures, and drawing sketches.

Solo and group exhibitions

References

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Jennings. Lewis. 2018-12-01. Rest in peace and art: Ghanaians are putting the fun into funerals by getting buried in artsy coffins shaped like animals and even Coke bottles. Index on Censorship. en. 47. 4. 34–35. 10.1177/0306422018819317. 149915921. 0306-4220. free.
  2. Otto. Kristin. 2019-03-29. Shapes of the Ancestors: Bodies, Animals, Art, and Ghanaian Fantasy Coffins. Museum Anthropology Review. en. 13. 1–2. 47–58. 10.14434/mar.v13i1.26580. 194619425. 1938-5145. free. 2023-03-09. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203184654/https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/mar/article/view/26580. live.
  3. Web site: Paa Joe: Gates of No Return. 2021-12-03. High Museum of Art. en-US. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203175736/https://high.org/exhibition/paa-joe-gates-of-no-return/. live.
  4. Web site: Coffin in the Form of a Nike Sneaker. live. 2021-12-03. Brooklyn Museum. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203175740/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/161758.
  5. Web site: coffin. live. 2021-12-03. The British Museum. en. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203175736/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af2000-06-4-a-b.
  6. Web site: Jansen. Charlotte. 2016-11-24. How Ghana's top fantasy coffin artist has put the fun in funeral. live. 2021-12-03. the Guardian. en. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203182435/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/24/paa-joe-ghana-fantasy-coffin-artist-casket-funeral.
  7. News: Jansen. Charlotte. How Ghana's top fantasy coffin artist has put the fun in funeral. 25 November 2016. The Guardian. 24 November 2016. 25 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161125092019/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/24/paa-joe-ghana-fantasy-coffin-artist-casket-funeral. live.
  8. News: Carrigan. Margaret. 21 November 2017. Paa Joe's Fantasy Coffins Are Now Recognized as Contemporary Art in Ghana. The New York Observer.
  9. Book: Curnow, Kathy. Art and Death. Michael Schwartz Library OER Program. 2018. Pressbooks@MSL. 262–312. English.
  10. Tschumi. Regula. Foster. Michael. 2013. The Figurative Palanquins of the Ga: History and Significance. African Arts. 46. 4. 60–73. 10.1162/AFAR_a_00108. 43306191. 57570945. 0001-9933. 2023-03-09. 2021-12-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20211204000548/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43306191. live.
  11. News: Symington. Martin. May 16, 1998. Designer Coffins and Coconuts. The Times.
  12. Web site: Paa Joe and The Lion . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211202072906/http://paajoeandthelion.co.uk/ . 2021-12-02 . 2021-12-03 . paajoeandthelion.co.uk.
  13. Web site: The Coffins of Paa Joe and the Pursuit of Happiness « Exhibitions « Jack Shainman Gallery. 2021-12-03. jackshainman.com. en. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203191619/https://jackshainman.com/exhibitions/june_8_2017_february_24_2018. live.
  14. Web site: Malick Sidibé, Mali Twist. 2021-12-03. Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain. en. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203191619/https://www.fondationcartier.com/en/exhibitions/malick-sidibe-mali-twist. live.
  15. Web site: Boxed: Fabulous Coffins from UK and Ghana in London. 2021-12-03. Time Out London. en. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203191620/https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/boxed-fabulous-coffins-from-uk-and-ghana-royal-festival-hall-26-january-2012. live.
  16. Web site: 2012-02-21. 'Material' at Salon 94: An Exhibit of Fashion Designer Duro Olowu's Favorite Things. 2021-12-03. Arts Observer. en-US. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203191619/http://www.artsobserver.com/2012/02/21/material-at-salon-94-an-exhibit-of-designer-duro-olowus-favorite-things/. live.
  17. Web site: 2010-12-06. Paa Joe's Elaborate Hand-Carved Ghanaian Coffins. 2021-12-03. DangerousMinds. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203191623/https://dangerousminds.net/comments/paa_joes_elaborate_hand-carved_ghanaian_coffins. live.
  18. Web site: Paa Joes Fantastic Coffins. 2021-12-03. www.weekendnotes.com. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203191620/https://www.weekendnotes.com/paa-joes-fantastic-coffins/. live.
  19. Web site: 2017-06-08. Coffins for the Art Museum Berne. 2021-12-03. Regula Tschumi. en-GB. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203191619/https://regulatschumi.ch/en/coffins-for-the-art-museum-berne/. live.
  20. Web site: From The Cabinet « Exhibitions « Jack Shainman Gallery. 2021-12-03. jackshainman.com. en. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203191620/https://jackshainman.com/exhibitions/from_the_cabinet. live.

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